Rebecca Jenneman is a Junior in college with an English major and emphasis in creative writing. Coming from Appleton, Wisconsin, after college she hopes to be a well-published author. When not searching for monsters, she likes to read and write stories, such as her story of “The Monster Under the Bed.” This story is about a child and their monster under the bed. Will the monster get them, or is there another ending unforeseen? - Savanna Frisque
There was a monster that lived under my bed. Every night I would tell Mommy and Daddy, and every night Daddy would crawl on his hands and knees to check for it. Mommy would sit on the bed and pet my hair and squeeze me tight, telling me that Daddy would protect me. Daddy would stand back up, little fuzzies covering him and floating around him, and proudly tell me that the monster was gone. He wouldn’t bother me that night.
“Okay Daddy.” I would smile, proudly showing off my three missing teeth.
Mommy and Daddy would kiss me goodnight and leave my room. Before turning off the light and shutting the door, Daddy would say, “Goodnight, peanut. There are no monsters tonight,” and then he shut the door.
Mommy and Daddy didn’t really think there was a monster under my bed. They just pretended to make me feel better. I knew that.
Underneath the covers, I counted on my little fingers—one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten—and then sat up. I lifted my pillow and pulled out my Monster Pack, a little baggie made out of an old, pink blankie that had too many holes. Opening the top, I pulled out my Barbie flashlight and turned it on. With one final look at the door, I rolled off the edge of my bed and landed on the soft carpet.
“Psst,” I whispered and shined the flashlight under the bed. It was empty. I frowned. Where was he? Maybe it was too early. I pouted and sat cross-legged next to my bed. Maybe he went away. That thought made me sad. I wanted to play with him. Reaching into my Monster Pack, I pulled out a candy car. I had snuck it out of the kitchen after dinner while Mommy was cleaning dishes. The chocolate was all melty because it had been under my pillow, and I was getting chocolate goo all over the place, but I didn’t really care. It still tasted good.
Suddenly, a hot breath whooshed over my hair. I froze. I could hear a sniffing coming from under my bed. My monster! Not wanting to scare him away, I turned my flashlight off and broke off a piece of chocolate. I could share. I set it down just next to the bed and waited.
A long, fuzzy, green arm with three dull claws slowly reached out from under the bed and wrapped around the chocolate, pulling it back under the bed. I listened. More sniffing. A slurping noise. Silence. The fuzzy green arm with three dull claws, now with some chocolate goo covering it, slowly reached out again for more. Biting my bottom lip to stop the squeal of delight from scaring him away, I broke off more chocolate and set it in front of him. He took it. With another smile, I made a trail of chocolate, leading from under the bed to the middle of my room. Then I watched.
With each piece of chocolate, more and more of the monster left the cover of my bed. I watched as the fuzzy, green arm was followed by a round, fuzzy, green body. His little feet padded softly over the carpet, his body waddling side to side with each step. Then the chocolate was gone. He was standing right in front of me. He was taller than me. He was shaped like a fuzzy, green pear. His big, round eyes were far apart. His mouth was wide and filled with big, white teeth. He looked like a big, stuffed animal. I wanted to hug him.
“Hi,” I smiled and waved. The monster blinked. He lifted his paw, looked at it, and waved back.
With a giggle, I jumped up and wrapped my arms around the monster’s big middle. My hands didn’t touch. He was so soft! With another giggle, I pulled away and looked up at the monster, eyes almost closed from how big I was smiling.
The monster blinked again. I think he was surprised. He looked at me, his eyes moving to my wide smile, and then to my squinting eyes. He squinted his right eye, then his left. Then he started to lift the corners of his mouth into the widest smile I had ever seen. I laughed again. I had officially met the monster under my bed.
Suddenly, low thuds started down the hallway towards my room. Mommy and Daddy!
“Quick! Hide!” I pushed the monster back towards my bed and made sure he was completely underneath before I hopped back onto the covers. I stashed my Monster Pack under my pillow and put my head down and closed my eyes. I pretended to be asleep.
The door creaked open. I held my breath.
"I told you,” I heard Mommy say. “She’s fine.”
I heard Daddy sigh. “You’re right. I just thought I heard something.”
They started whispering to each other as they closed the door and walked away. I counted on my little fingers again – one, two, three four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten – and then sat up. I rolled out from underneath my covers and then hung over the edge of the bed, my hair brushing the floor.
“Are you still there?” I whispered.
A hot breath whooshing over my face and blowing my hair back was my answer. I smiled. There was a monster that lived under my bed.